Viral receptor profiles of masked palm civet revealed by single-cell transcriptomics

Screening of cell-virus, cell-cell, gene-gene crosstalk among animal kingdom at single cell resolution

BACKGROUND

The exact animal origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains obscure and understanding its host range is vital for preventing interspecies transmission.

METHODS

Herein, we applied single-cell sequencing to multiple tissues of 20 species (30 data sets) and integrated them with public resources (45 data sets covering 26 species) to expand the virus receptor distribution investigation. While the binding affinity between virus and receptor is essential for viral infectivity, understanding the receptor distribution could predict the permissive organs and tissues when infection occurs.

RESULTS

Based on the transcriptomic data, the expression profiles of receptor or associated entry factors for viruses capable of causing respiratory, blood, and brain diseases were described in detail. Conserved cellular connectomes and regulomes were also identified, revealing fundamental cell-cell and gene-gene cross-talks from reptiles to humans.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, our study provides a resource of the single-cell atlas of the animal kingdom which could help to identify the potential host range and tissue tropism of viruses and reveal the host-virus co-evolution.